UN 13139 [Williams Mtn. North] | 13,139' › Williams North

Trailhead
Approach Maps Photos
Route Map Photos

Trailhead
- Lost Man Trailhead
  
  Trailhead Info
  
  Trailhead Elevation › 10,540'
  
  Vehicle Access › Passenger Car
  
  Camping Near Trailhead? Yes
  
  Map/Location
  
  Trailhead GPS Coordinates › N 39° 07' 18.64",W 106° 37' 26.79"
  
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  Other Peaks Accessed via This Trailhead
  Williams Mountain Williams Benchmark [Williams Mtn. South A] UN 13204 [Williams Mtn South B] UN 13039 [Formerly UN 13033 Williams Mtn. South C] UN 13033 [Formerly UN 13026] UN 13014 [Formerly UN 13003]
  
  The name for trail #1996 is "The Lost Man" trail. It has two access points off Highway 82 out of Aspen. The first access is 14 miles east of Aspen and is a large parking area on the north side of the highway, across from the Lost Man Campground. This section of the trail leads up to South Fork Pass and Lost Man Lake. If accessing the Williams Mountains, this is the shortest and easiest access. Once across South Fork Pass, the trail number changes to 1940.
  If coming from the Front Range, turn west off onto SH82 from US24 between Leadville and Buena Vista and drive past the Twin Lakes Reservoirs, through the small town of Twin Lakes and continue west up to the summit of Independence Pass. From the summit, continue driving west. At the first switchback heading down is what we are calling the "Roaring Fork River" trailhead. This is actually the other end of the Lost Man trail #1996. Drive on west past here, for another 4.3 miles to the Lost Man Campground and parking for the Lost Man trail on the north side of the highway. The parking lot is sizable.
  
  Camping
  
  On the west side of Independence Pass, at-large camping opportunities have all but been taken away. There are four designated, fee-type national forest campgrounds however beginning with Difficult Creek (four miles out of Aspen), Weller, Lincoln Gulch and Lost Man. All of these tend to fill on weekends. It may be possible to stay overnight in your vehicle at the Lost Man trailhead parking. Do this at your own risk of being run off.
Approach Maps Photos
- From Lost Man TH via South Fork Pass Camps & Williams Mountain:
  Our route up Williams Mtn. North uses a backpack approach and climb of Williams Mountain to reach the summit. Please refer to the approach stages and route within this sequence by using the provided toggles for info on how to approach this climb.
  
  Total RT Approach: 14.25 mi / 4,060' / Class 3
  
  Trailhead
  Lost Man Trailhead
  
  Other Peaks Accessed via this Approach
  Williams Mountain Williams Benchmark [Williams Mtn. South A] "Leaning South Peak" [Formerly UN13203] UN 13204 [Williams Mtn South B] UN 13039 [Formerly UN 13033 Williams Mtn. South C] UN 13033 [Formerly UN 13026] UN 13014 [Formerly UN 13003]
  
  USGS Quads
  Independence Pass, Mt. Champion
  
  Lost Man Trail Approach Easy | RT: 11 mi / 1,660’
  
  This approach information is provided for those who would want to backpack in as far as South Fork Pass or beyond in order to climb the four Williams summits and possibly some other unnamed summits NE of the Williams group.
  From the Lost Man trailhead, hike north to Lost Man Reservoir which is about one half mile in, gaining about 200 feet elevation. Before reaching the reservoir, a little over .3 mile from the TH, another trail turns off to the left. This is Forest Service trail #1993 to Midway Pass. Use this trail to climb UN13,033 (Williams South C) or if you want to attempt a traverse of all the Williams summits from the south. Otherwise, continue north from the reservoir on the Lost Man trail for about 4.5 miles total to South Fork Pass at 11,840 ft. The trail is fairly level most of the distance, with the steepest elevation gain just prior to the pass. At about 2.4 miles up the trail, or about .4 mile past the crossing of Jack Creek is a possible campsite that lies on the east side of the trail and overlooks a section of the creek that enters a shallow, rocky gorge. The campsite is not far off the trail. Try these coordinates: N 39° 09' 02.60" W 106° 36' 37.41". However, most would probably prefer to get further up the trail before camping. Overall, there was a lack of viable campsites along this trail all the way up to the pass.
  Before reaching South Fork Pass, the Lost Man trail actually turns off to the east to go up to Lost Man Lake. If interested in climbing the lowest 13er in the state, you could turn off here and hike up toward Lost Man Lake to ascend the peak. Otherwise, where the Lost Man trail turns off to the east, continue north to South Fork Pass, now just a short distance away. At the pass, if you explore over to the west of the trail, there's a very small pond with some camping possibilities at these coordinates: N 39° 10' 20.21' W 106° 35' 33.53". If you do not wish to camp here, this is the location that we used to launch off for UN13,203 (Williams South B) and also Williams Benchmark (13,312).
  For Williams Mountain and UN13,108 (Williams North), continue packing north, down the trail now for about another .75 mile to a third possible campsite in the vicinity of these coordinates: N 39° 10' 44.21" W 106° 35' 01.91". This is only a very rough estimate of where we camped. The so-called campsite we used was on the west side of the trail and barely off the trail and overlooked the creek. On the east side of the trail, if you wandered up over some rock outcrops, there was evidence of a couple of other marginally used spots. This made a good location to launch off for Williams Mountain and UN13,108 (Williams North). If you access them the way we did, you will need to continue down the trail to Deadman Lake. The terrain around Deadman Lake we found to be rather flat and wet, but there may be a viable campsite around there.
  
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  Campsite Locations
  
  Lost Man Campsite 1 N 39° 09' 02.60", W 106° 36' 37.41"
  
  Lost Man Campsite 2 N 39° 10' 20.21', W 106° 35' 33.53"
  
  Lost Man Campsite 3 N 39° 10' 44.21", W 106° 35' 01.91"
  
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  Williams Mtn. North Ridge Class 3 / 3.25 mi / 2,400’ One-Way
  
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  Photo shows the section of trail heading north from South Fork Pass (about .7 mile) and down Deadman Gulch where we found a suitable campsite.
  
  Photo shows Williams Mountain as you begin to emerge from the trees in the drainage NE of the summit. The ridgeline right of the summit is the north ridge.
  
  From the unnamed pond/tarn in the upper basin, Williams Mtn. presents a formidable NE face.
  
  From the same tarn/pond, you can view the north ridge and this photo also shows some of the difficult section of the connecting ridge over to North Williams.
  
  From the unnamed tarn/pond in the NE basin, the ascent to the south end of the low point saddle between Williams and N. Williams takes you over steep terrain like this.
  
  Much of the ascent along the north ridge goes over terrain like this rocky rubble.
  
  Once brief 3rd Class section of the north ridge looks like this. Partner Fred Askins is trying to make it appear more dramatic than it really is.
  
  Taken from somewhere up on the south ridge of Williams North, the north ridge of Williams Mountain can be fully seen along with the connecting ridge and its difficulties.
  
  Our route to attempt Williams Mountain by it's north ridge was suggested by Gerry and Jennifer Roach who had themselves climbed it this way. Begin your day by hiking down from your campsite at either South Fork Pass or further down Deadman Gulch to the large and wet meadow by Deadman Lake. Once on the edge of the meadow, head northwest along the edge of the forest, and just west of the lake, tree-bashing your way over to the unnamed creek draining the northeast flank of Williams. Once you manage to work your way through the trees, it is fairly easy progress now in a SW direction along the creek following game trails. In the trees, there are numerous trails to follow that head up the creek. Near where the trees began to thin out, get on the north side of the creek and work your way up valley. (We found plentiful signs of elk up here.) At the small tarn at about 12,100 ft., head up toward the south end of the saddle that separates Williams from North Williams. The last few hundred feet to the saddle, skirt south and connect with the main ridge a little south of the low point. Much of this part of the ascent will be on mixed tundra and gravel amid larger rocks, with nice flowers thrown in. Once on the ridge, there's about 700 more feet to gain and it all goes rather quickly. The ridge was mostly upper class 2 rock and boulder rubble with a little bit of fun, 3rd class scrambling intermittently, and one spot that looked exposed, but really wasn't to any degree of danger.
  From the summit you can peruse the south connecting ridge over to Williams South B and also look north and study the connecting ridge over to Williams North. Either direction appears rather daunting. Our route took us over to the north summit for this day. See that peak for details.
  
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Route Map Photos
Route Info Williams North - South Ridge
Fear Factor

Exposure › None

Steepness › Stiff uphill climb

Terrain & Rock Conditions › A Tundra Stroll / Embedded rocks / Rubble / Scree / Talus

Ice Axe Recommended? Yes

Routefinding Difficulty › Easy

Family Rating ›

Because of the potential for a backpack trip combined with climbing, this peak and others of the Williams summits is best for experienced teenagers who can handle their own packs and are comfortable with rocky rubble and 3rd class scrambling.

Maps

Forest Service / Other › White River NF

USGS Quadrangles › Independence Pass , Mt. Champion

Williams Mountains

CalTopo map shows all five, ranked summits of the Williams group and the Lost Man trail access.

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Route Description

Year Climbed: 2007

We climbed Williams North by the connecting ridge between it and Williams Mountain. The route description picks up from the Williams Mountain summit. Distance between the two summits is .8 mile. If returning to our suggested campsite in Deadman Gulch, add another 2.2 to complete mileage back to the campsite.
Begin your descent, retracing as well as you can your ascent route on Williams Mountain north ridge. It does not matter a whole lot how you go except in a few spots where choices are limited. Once you arrive at the south end of the saddle, you'll need to decide if you want to continue north on the ridge crest or find an easier route. The ridge crest will require some slow, perhaps even technical work. So we dropped a few hundred feet below the cliffs on the east side, contoured north a little and then chose an ascent route back to the ridge that brought us out north of the main obstacles. There is a nice ramp that gets you back up to the ridge and all along the way, there are vivid and beautiful flowers, especially paintbrush. Most of this traverse was on a mix of tundra, gravel and smaller rock with cliffs above. Once back on the ridge, it is an easy stroll to the summit of the north peak, mostly on a tundra/rock mix.

Additional BETA

Links to other information, routes & trip reports for this peak that may be helpful.

Mountain Handbook › Williams North (13,108) (Requires free registration & login to view)

LoJ: #538 (Pre-LiDAR #561) / 13,139' UN 13139 Williams Mtn. North

Peak Summary

Williams North - South Ridge Route

Lost Man Trailhead

Camping

From Lost Man TH via South Fork Pass Camps & Williams Mountain:

Lost Man Trail Approach Easy | RT: 11 mi / 1,660’

Campsite Locations

Williams Mtn. North Ridge Class 3 / 3.25 mi / 2,400’ One-Way

Photo shows the section of trail heading north from South Fork Pass (about .7 mile) and down Deadman Gulch where we found a suitable campsite.

Photo shows Williams Mountain as you begin to emerge from the trees in the drainage NE of the summit. The ridgeline right of the summit is the north ridge.

From the unnamed pond/tarn in the upper basin, Williams Mtn. presents a formidable NE face.

From the same tarn/pond, you can view the north ridge and this photo also shows some of the difficult section of the connecting ridge over to North Williams.

From the unnamed tarn/pond in the NE basin, the ascent to the south end of the low point saddle between Williams and N. Williams takes you over steep terrain like this.

Much of the ascent along the north ridge goes over terrain like this rocky rubble.

Once brief 3rd Class section of the north ridge looks like this. Partner Fred Askins is trying to make it appear more dramatic than it really is.

Taken from somewhere up on the south ridge of Williams North, the north ridge of Williams Mountain can be fully seen along with the connecting ridge and its difficulties.

Route Info Williams North - South Ridge

Google Earth view shows routes for both Williams Mountain and Williams North (13,108).

This view of Williams North is taken from a saddle in the long east ridge that extends off Williams Mountain. The full SE face of Williams North is in view. The couloir we used for the descent is the first to the left of the summit.

This photo, taken from the summit of Williams Mountain looks north to Williams North and gives some indication of the problems along the connecting ridge.

In this photo, we re re-ascending to the south ridge of Williams North after having traversed below the cliffs in the vicinity of the connecting saddle to Williams Mountain.

Photo shows us entering the descent couloir on the SE face of Williams North.

Looking back up the couloir we descended off Williams North. Further down, it's less rocky and has nice flowers.

The low point in this photo is where we crossed the extended east ridge of Williams Mountain after dropping off Williams North.

Route Description

Additional BETA